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USMNT's Christian Pulisic scores his first Bundesliga goal for Dortmund (Video)

Joe Lago

There's nothing quite like the "next big thing" to grab the attention of Americans, who are continually enamored with prodigies and the promise of their potential. This fascination can grow to fanatical levels, especially in sports, where teenage prospects are prematurely anointed for greatness (see college football recruiting).

The United States men's national team has one such teenage hopeful in Christian Pulisic, a 17-year-old midfielder who has broken into the first team for one of Europe's top clubs in Borussia Dortmund. And now that he's scored his first Bundesliga goal, well, the hype around Pulisic will only grow.

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Pulisic opened his goal-scoring account on Sunday with a well-taken 38th-minute strike in Dortmund's 3-0 victory over Hamburg. Making his second straight league start for the Bundesliga's second-place team, Pulisic struck from inside the box to give Dortmund a 1-0 lead.

Pulisic nearly scored last weekend in a 2-2 draw with Schalke. He was arguably Dortmund's best player in the first half, as he gave Schalke fits with his bursting runs down the right side. He came close to notching his first goal when he slipped past the Schalke defense and pulled a 23rd-minute shot just wide of the far post.

It'd be asking a lot for USMNT supporters to lower their expectations for Pulisic. With a U.S. side in desperate need of a creative midfielder, Pulisic and his ability to take on defenders one-on-one (and most importantly, beat them) fit the job description. His senior-team debut last month in a World Cup qualifying home win over Guatemala secured his commitment. The question is whether Jurgen Klinsmann is ready to hand the keys over to a teenager to help drive the American attack. Probably not.

But players who are in fine form for their clubs often earn promiment roles on their national teams. The more Pulisic keeps impressing for Borussia Dortmund, the more Klinsmann should be convinced that American soccer's next big thing deserves to be a bigger part of his Copa America Centenario plans.